Station construction.



A. L. DRUM.

STATION GONSTRUGTION.

APPLIOATION FILED DBC.14, 1912.

1,057,626. Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

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To all 'whom it may concem:

i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALPHONSUS L. DBUM, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

STATION CONSTRUCTION.

Be it known that I, ALPI-IONSUS L. DRUM,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Highland Park, in the countyof Lake and :State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Station Construction, of which the following s a full,

clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the Construction 'of railway stations andancillary devices,

and more particularly to the stations of intra-urban railways, such assubways, elevated roads and the like.

,One of the objects thereof is to provide a simple and practicalarrangement of parts and of appurtenances of a station of the abovenature whereby a maximum passenger traffic may be smoothly andexpeditiously handled.

Other objects will be in part obVio-us and in part pointed outhereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinatio-ns of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the Construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claim.

The accompanying drawing is a semi-diagrammatic perspective of one ofvarious possible embodiments of this invention.

As conducive to a clearer understanding of the principles of myinvention, it may be noted that in railways of the above type thepassenger trafiic entering and leaving a station is generally greatestin portions of the city where the least space can be spared for stationConstruction, as in the congested business districts. It may also benoted that the Capacity of a station of this type is determined by therate at which passengers can be moved therethrough, and I have foundthat a vital factor in this rate is the establishment of smooth currentsof traffic which under no circumstances interfere with, or tend to breakup, each other. It is also to be noted that in the case of a twotrackrailroad, it is an undue hardship upon the few passengers who wish totransfer from the trains of one track to the trains of the other toprevent their so doing. Another important factor to be noted is that thetrains may be of considerable length and with ordinary stationconstructions there is Specfication of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 14, 1912.

PateIt-ed Apr. 1, 1913.

Serial No. 736,*703;

interference not only between the incoming and outgong passengers of acar, but between the passengers coming from, or going toward, thevarious parts of a single train. The latter is especially important ifthe trains are to be evenly loaded and their full carrying capacityutilized. The provision of a station Construction in which the passengertraflic is directed in smoo-th currents and in which the above and otheradvantageous features are attained without interference between thesecurrents is the dominant aim of this invention.

Referring now to the drawing, there is diagrammatically shown a subwaystation in which the tracks 1 and 2 are preferably arranged for oppositetrain traffic. Respectively disposed on the outer sides of these tracksare a pair of platforms 3 and 4 so formed and positioned as to permitpassengers to pass directly therefrom to standing trains. Between thesetracks is an island platform 5 adapted to receive passengers from trainsin the station, and this platform is provided with one or more devicesadapted exclusively and at all times to guide or direct passengers awayfrom th'e platform, as to a cross platform or the street level. Thedevice here shown is an escalator 6, continuously driven as indicated bythe arrow. In like manner, the platforms 3 and 4 are provided withescalators 7 and 8, so driven as at all times to direct passengertraflic toward these platforms. It will thus be seen that the platforms3 and 4 serve at all times and exclusively as loading platforms fortrains upon the tracks 1 and 2, and that the platform 5 is maintainedexclusively as an unloading platform to receive passengers and dischargethem from the station. This platform, moreover, provides a means wherebythe few passengers who have taken a train in the wrong direction mayrectify their mistake without leaving the station. Although the latterclass of passengers are almost negligible in number, nevertheless, it isimportant that they be accommodated in this manner from practicalconsiderations, as the avoidance of criticism of the railway,

` The action and method of use of a station of this type will, it isbelieved, be clear from the above description in view of the drawing inwhich the main currents of passengers are diagrammatically indicated. Itwill be seen that the currents from escalators 7 and 8 to thecorresponding tracks are evenly distributed throughout the length of thetrain and are entirely free from interference one with another. Thelatter is of the greatest importance, as I have found that relativelyslight interference of two Currents of passengers will bring them almostto a standstill and immediately result in extreme congestion. VVithinthe cars themselves these even non-interfering Currents are maintained,as the unloading trafiic passes from each train directly to the islandplatform and the loading traffic coming from the adjacent platform 7 or8 passes directly to the cars, avoiding all interference or confusionand reducng to a minimum the requisite time of stoppage for the train.Furthermore, upon the unloading platform 5, the centrally disposedescalators 6 receive the converging currents from the trains upon eitherside and remove them from the station.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a Construction in which theobjects of this invention and advantages hereinbefore noted areachieved, and that this Construction is of an essentially simple,practical and inexpensive nature, provides for the uniform andexpeditious loading of trains and is well suited to meet therequirements of actual practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above Construction and manyapparen'tly I copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

widely different embodiments of this invention could be made withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanyng drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not ina limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

In station Construction, in combination, a pair of through tracks havingtrain trafc in opposite directions thereon, a pair of platformsrespectively disposed upon the outer sides of said tracks and contiguousthereto, the station being free from tracks outside of said platforms,an island platform positioned between said tracks and adapted to receivepassengers from either, and oppoa stely dsposed traffic directing meansformed and adapted to positively guide all traffic toward said first twoplatforms and away from said island platform, whereby said first twoplatforms are used exclusively as e loading platforms and said islandplatform as an unloading platform.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the. presence of twowitnesses.

ALPHONSUS L. DRUM. Witnesses:

ANDREVV E. PEDERsoN, E. LOUISE PALMER.

Washington, D. C.

